Meridian Primary School

with Designated Special Provision for Deaf Children

Old Woolwich Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NY Tel: 020 8858 3572

The Meridian Curriculum

At Meridian we want all our children, including those who are deaf, dyslexic or have other learning differences, to
•Enjoy school and enjoy learning;
•Become successful, independent, lifelong learners;
•Become the best that they can be whatever their starting points or circumstances.

As such, our rich, broad and balanced curriculum provides our children with exciting, purposeful learning experiences which capture their interest and support them in developing the skills, attitudes and knowledge which will prepare them for future learning and for life.

Key principles
Our curriculum is underpinned by the Meridian values of creativity, nurture, aspiration, equality and inclusion -
•It is focused on high expectations and ensuring high standards of work
•It reflects the diverse nature and context of our school community: the range of children’s languages, ethnicity, religions, cultural and social backgrounds; the range of special needs, including deafness; the rich local environment; the opportunities for partnership working with the local and wider community.
•We strive to ensure consistency and rigour in the teaching of basic skills, alongside creative approaches to teaching and learning.
•We put emphasis on developing fluent readers, writers and mathematicians and children who are emotionally literate – able to recognise, discuss and manage their feelings.
•We greatly value the arts and sports and it is our ambition that every child should leave our school with a skill or talent they can enjoy and succeed in and which will be the foundation for sustained self-esteem as they grow older.

Curriculum Planning
Meridian follows the statutory National Curriculum (KS1-KS2) and Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (Nursery/FS1 and Reception/FS2). Please follow the links on the left to see these documents. Our curriculum is further strengthened by the teaching of SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning) across the whole school, deaf awareness, SRE (Sex, Relationships Education) and the teaching of RE, planned from the Greenwich Windows of Faith.

Learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom through a whole school themed approach – this enables children from across the school to share their learning experiences. Wherever possible we make cross-curricular links between subjects and place learning in meaningful contexts – such as school trips or writing to a pen pal in another country. This enables children to make better sense of their world. We use the World Heritage Site on our doorstep and our links and resources within and beyond London to bring the curriculum to life. Follow the links on the right to see our curriculum overviews for each year group in each term and please go to the parent partnership pages to see how parents/carers can support the curriculum at home.

Reading and Writing at Meridian
We have a holistic approach to the teaching of reading and writing:
•Children are immersed in real books from Nursery onwards. Each classroom has a book corner and children are given time each week to read independently and with an adult.
•All classes have story time as often as possible and whole class books often inspire and support whole class topics.
•We use a wide range of ‘real books’ and ‘reading schemes’ to support children’s reading. These books are levelled using Book Bands and there is a colour sticker system so that children can make independent choices.
•Every class has parent reading time at least once a week and each child has a book bag and reading diary to support reading at home (see parent partnership page).
•Literacy is taught through the context of a great book, a painting, or a topic. We work with the CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) and often use ‘The Power of Reading’ programme to teach Literacy topics in a fun and contextual way.
•Grammar and punctuation is taught in the context of a theme - over the week children look at great examples of texts; they learn and practise skills which will then be applied to a piece of ‘extended writing’ each week.
•Children are given as many opportunities as possible to write across the curriculum.
•Phonics (the letters which go together to make sounds) is taught rigorously in the FS and KS1 through ‘Letters and Sounds’ and is linked to handwriting. In KS2 the focus moves to spelling patterns.
•We teach early handwriting through movement activities and ‘Write Dance’ is used in the Foundation Stage (FS).
In FS the focus is on the correct formation of letters and from Y1 onwards we teach a continuous cursive script (all letters starting from the line and joined up). (See parent partnership pages for more handwriting information.)

Maths
At Meridian we want children to become fluent and confident in using number. We want them to recognise the links between the different areas of maths and real life; to be able to apply their understanding to solving problems. The focus of our maths teaching is therefore on -
- fluency with understanding
- mental maths - quick accurate recall
- precision
- problem solving
- analysis
- use of mathematical vocabulary to communicate, justify or prove.

Arts and Sports
All children are taught PE, Music and Art through weekly lessons. By the end of KS2 all children will have had the opportunity to learn to play the drums, clarinet or trumpet; learn to swim; take part in a Camping Trip to Downe (Y2 and Y6); take part in a range of competitive sports activities. Singing is also a big part of Meridian – and through weekly singing assemblies children develop quite a repertoire of songs! (See PE and Sports Page for more infomation about PE and Sport.)

Every year children from across the school take part in an annual Arts Festival - working with professional artists such as painters, dancers, dramatists or musicians and producing a public exhibition of their work. (Please see Arts and Festival pages for examples of the children's work.)

Drama is often used to support reading comprehension and inspire writing. Children have the opportunity to develop their presentational skills each year when each class perform a whole school class assembly and a Christmas show.

Curriculum Organisation - All children in KS1 and KS2 take part in -
•A daily Literacy lesson which includes the teaching of reading and writing (including grammar and punctuation);
•A daily Maths lesson - which includes mental maths work;
•A weekly Guided Reading session;
•Regular Phonics/Spelling sessions linked to handwriting;
•Weekly Circle time (SEAL);
•Lessons in Science, RE, Art, Design and Technology, Humanities (History and Geography);
•Two PE lessons each week (including swimming for Years 4, 5 and 6) ;
•Music lessons and singing assemblies (Wider Opportunities for Year 4 and 5—Clarinet, Drumming and Trumpet)
•ICT throughout the curriculum
In addition KS2 take part in French lessons. There are also a range of extra-curricular activities for all ages on offer. Guided Reading is taught every morning after registration. Literacy and Maths tend to be taught each morning when our deaf children are working in smaller groups with their Teachers of the Deaf. Other subjects are taught throughout the afternoon. Follow the link for the whole school timetable.